Throughout hospitals and extended care facilities, bed and examination areas are often provided privacy through the use of ceiling-mounted movable fabric curtains. There are many manufacturers of these products and all are essentially the same basic idea with limited variation.
FIGS. 1a and 1b illustrate some examples of these systems of the prior art. As shown in the figures, a track is provided which consists of an extruded aluminum channel. The track is attached to a conventional or dropped ceiling, and traces a path around the area to be sequestered. A series of rollers slide within that track, each of the rollers having a chain hanging from it. The chains, in turn, each end in a hook.
To drape a curtain around the examination area, each hook is attached to a grommet in the curtain, a series of grommets being provided along the curtain's upper edge. Once the hooks have been attached to the curtain's grommets, the curtain hangs from the ceiling and can slide along the track's path. Usually, this path is arc-shaped, extending around three sides of a bed or examination area (the fourth side often being a wall). A health care professional such as a doctor or nurse pulls the curtain to slide it along the track, to open and close a space around the bed.
The present inventors have identified extensive shortcomings to these current systems. Because of the track, the rollers, and the moving parts, the noise of the curtain sliding along the aluminum track is very disturbing to patients. Particularly in a hospital environment, patients need their rest. Yet, the movement of the curtain along the track not only disturbs the patient in the bed surrounded by the curtain, but also the patient in the adjoining bed (which is a problem in general, and particularly so if that second patient was sleeping).
Furthermore, maintenance, repair and laundering of these systems is highly inefficient. The existing designs use a single entry and exit point for insertion or removal of the curtain at an end of the track (or at the two ends of the track at best). If one roller breaks in the sequence of rollers, all the rollers and the entire curtain up to that point need to be removed from the track, so that the broken roller can be replaced.
Likewise, the curtain can often disengage from the track. Particularly considering the large number of hooks and rollers and small parts, it is time consuming to maintain and repair the system and its parts, and to reattach the curtain. Yet, the number of moving parts only increases the likelihood of breakage, of the curtain disengaging from the track, of the disengagement of the hooks from the grommets, and so forth.
The curtains themselves consist of a single, continuous, lengthy stretch of material (usually greater than 24 feet, and often 30 feet long) and are heavy as a result. Due to that length and size, they must be sent out to a costly commercial laundering facility.
Moreover, the design of the system and the curtain's weight make it difficult to handle the curtain, with it being particularly cumbersome to hang or change it. One roller at a time must be inserted into the track and then one hook at a time must be attached to the heavy curtain. As there are approximately two grommets per linear foot, the mounting or removal of the curtain (whether for maintenance, repair, cleaning, or replacement purposes) is a considerable chore that usually requires the efforts of two maintenance workers.
The utility and aesthetics of the system are also severely lacking. To pass beyond the curtain into the bed area, the health care professional must pull the curtain from the far end—i.e. he or she cannot simply enter in the middle. Also, the movement of the curtain is often not smooth or stable along the track, and can jam up when there is interference with the moving parts. The curtain can also get tangled as the hooks catch each other and/or sections of the curtain fabric. The use of the chains, rollers and hooks also results in a configuration where the curtain hangs a significant distance below the track, leaving a relatively large gap through which unwanted light can enter.
In terms of both appearance and space, the existing curtains stack or gather together in an extremely wide silhouette—for example, 24 feet of curtain stack as approximately 4 feet, in other words, as a width of fabric approximately 4 feet wide. Moreover, since the curtain is a single continuous length, it can only be stacked together in one bundle. For all practical purposes, curtains in that system cannot be layered one on top of the other, even if desired. Also, the upper edge of the curtain is sloppy in appearance—whether spread or stacked.
Additionally, the products are usually custom created for the installation, creating long lead times and high prices for the institution. The system is also relatively costly due to the complicated ring system, the multiple parts, the use of the grommets, and the attendant higher labor involved. Likewise, most parts of those systems are metal, which are inherently noisier, may tarnish, and can be relatively expensive in cost.